Travel Back in Time with MR. PEABODY AND SHERMAN Concept Art by Carlos Zaragoza

Normally I don't cover animation, but this is a welcome exception. Bullwinkle and Rocky were a huge part of my childhood and the movie brings back many pleasant memories. Plus, it's technically science fiction. So there you go.

Based on the Jay Ward shorts Peabody's Improbable History, the production on the film goes back to 2003 when it was almost made into a live-action film. The CG format works though. Mr. Peabody & Sherman has made over $218,009,000 and is a hit with critics around the world. One of the artists working on the film is Carlos Zaragoza. He was visual development artist on Mr.Peabody & Sherman and I got a brief interview with him.

Zaragoza is a professional hybrid Visual development Artist and Art Director working both in animation and live-action movies, like Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), Asterix at the Olympic Games (2008) and Gnomeo & Juliet (2011).

I talked to him briefly and here's how he described the artwork.

Click on the images to enlarge

"The inspiration for the look of Mr. Peabody & Sherman came first from Jay Ward’s original cartoon from 1960’s, which had a bold, modern & graphic style," Carlos said, "Production Designer David James and Art Director Tim Lamb challenged us to get it to a different level, and create something new and unique."

"The characters’ shape proportions are quite exaggerated. The look of their world follow the same principles: stylized in shape, color, scale, pushing the relationships between different elements in the scene." - Zaragoza

"I focused in the design of the world of Peabody & Sherman, iconic locations and moments in History. In this project, I had a more cinematic approach in visual development, using a combination of 2D and 3D tools. My goal was not only creating inspiring images to support the story, but explore and test my designs, composition and lighting early on in a tridimensional space." - Zaragoza

"The look of the environments is cartoony, but grounded in real, well known places, so did extent research in art & history to get inspiration and find iconic and recognizable imagery, like in the Upper West Side of Manhattan: looking for the most emblematic architectural elements and studying the look of the early morning sun light." - Zaragoza

What do you think of the concept art? If you've seen Peabody & Sherman what did you think?Official Mr. Peabody and Sherman Summary"Mr. Peabody, the most accomplished dog in the world, and his mischievous boy Sherman, use their time machine – The Wabac – to go on the most outrageous adventures known to man or dog. But when Sherman takes The Wabac out for a joyride to impress his friend Penny, they accidentally rip a hole in the universe, wreaking havoc on the most important events in world history. Before they forever alter the past, present and future, Mr. Peabody must come to their rescue, ultimately facing the most daunting challenge of any era: figuring out how to be a parent. Together, the time traveling trio will make their mark on history."
Directed by Rob Minkoff
Production Design by David James

What is Film Sketchr?

This blog is about the often unseen world of concept design and storyboarding in science-fiction films and television. These artists work to bring the vision of the writer and director to life. My hope is you'll learn a little bit more about them. If you're an artist I hope you find inspiration from the talented artists featured.

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The images featured are the property of the respective artists and companies. They are shown to feature and demonstrate the artistic talents of the artists. I'm not affiliated in any way. No implication of copyright is implied in their use.